Will Waterfowlers Pay The Price For Extra Punch Of Tungsten Loads?

Aunique high-performance waterfowl load has been approved for use this year and the high-tech product packs quite a wallop ... both in the field and at the cash register.

Federal Cartridge Company's announcement of "temporary conditional approval" by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for its non-toxic, tungsten-iron load for the 1997-1998 season has some waterfowl hunters checking sporting goods stores and gun shops for the new ammo.

But they're having a hard time finding it.

If they do hunt up a box of the new shot, it may cost as much as $2.50 each time the trigger is squeezed. Miss those fleeting geese or a fast-flying duck with a 3-shot volley and you're poorer by $7.50. Hit them, and you're still out the pay for 30-60 minutes' work.

Yet, the curiousity is there.

"We've had a tremendous response to our Premium Tungsten-Iron already ... so much that our production is at capacity," said Margaret McDonald, vice president of marketing for Federal.

The lure of tungsten-iron is its more efficient load, said to be 30 per cent more dense than steel and 94 per cent as dense as lead, which has not been legal for waterfowl hunting anywhere since the dawn of the decade. Speed and energy "is superior with tungsten," claims the manufacturer.

According to Federal's Dave Longren, "Tungsten has the pellet energy of lead and the velocity of steel (and) will work fine in any barrel approved for steel shot."

He added that the shells hold a TUNGSTEN headstamp and that the composition of the pellets enables their detection with a magnet, of special concern to law enforcement personnel who check waterfowl hunters for proper ammo using magnets.

Bismuth, the first and then-only alternative to steel shot, received temporary approval in the latter part of the 1994-1995 waterfowl seasons. It was fully approved for the 1996-1997 hunts. Manufactured by the Bismuth Cartridge Company and soon (if not already) to be loaded by Winchester, it outperforms steel in both density and retained energy but does not come up to the standards of the banned lead.

John Snell, manager of the gun department at Army-Navy Store in Whitehall, said 90 per cent of his customers purchase steel shot for waterfowling but "we're getting more and more bismuth sales each year."

"Bismuth has better penetrating power and (hunters) seem to know that." he said. `'If someone's going on a waterfowling trip, they will spend the extra money for the (bismuth)."

Snell said he placed an order for Federal tungsten but has not yet received it due to the manufacturing backlog. The new load is available in 2-3/4- and 3-inch shells in shot sizes of BB, 2 and 4.

Chances are, only dedicated waterfowlers will spend the extra money for the tungsten shot, unless prices level off in the years ahead with any subsequent growth in sales. Currently, a 10-round box of 3-inch, number 2 shot lists for $24.95. Compare that to a 10-shot box of bismuth at $13.95 and a 25-count box of steel shot (also 3-inch, number 2) costing about $15.95.

Lead, of course, was outlawed for waterfowling following studies which showed lingering effects of lead shot in wetlands in the 1970s and 1980s. Over the years, ducks and geese picked up the spent shot in their normal feeding activities, resulting in the deaths of some 2-1/2 million waterfowl annually, according to federal biologists.

The birds succumbed to lead poisoning after ingesting the pellets as they sifted through shallow marshes for seeds, mollusks and other plant and animal life.

After a phase-in period, a complete ban on lead shot for waterfowl hunting finally became law in all 50 states in 1991. With it came the advance of the then-controversial steel shot and the search for non-toxic ammo which performed better than steel and did not harm shotgun barrels.

Hence, the development of bismuth-tin and now tungsten-iron.

The question remains as to how many duck and goose hunters are willing the pay the high price for better shot performance in the field as offered by tungsten.

Federal expects final approval for the new shot in 1998.

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Team 3-D shoot Sunday -- Indian Creek Farm will hold a 3-D Team Shoot Sunday at its range along Route 946, east of Danielsville.

Each team is composed of five shooters and a scorer. The scorer will accompany another team, not his or her own.

Shooters may discuss distance estimates and strategies at each target. Only the best three arrows at each of the 40 targets will count.

The challenging course is set up in a wooded area with several treestand-type shots. Participants will shoot 20 targets in the morning and 20 in the afternoon, at which time the 3-D course will be changed.

The shooting fee is $125 per team. Of the payback (70 percent), the winning team will collect half, second place 30 percent and third place 20 percent. With a full slate of 20 teams, $1,750 in prize money will be available.